Early hilar lung cancer: its clinical aspect

Early hilar lung cancers are rare, but are curable if they are properly diagnosed and treated. In the past 14 years, we have treated 27 patients with early hilar cancers that fulfilled the criteria proposed by the Japanese Lung Cancer Society (JLCS). Eighteen patients presented with symptoms and 9 were detected by the mass screening examination of sputum cytology. All lesions in both groups were finally diagnosed by bronchoscopy. Twenty patients (74%) had positive sputum cytology, whereas only 7 (26%) had positive chest X-ray findings. All the patients underwent surgery, and bronchoplasty was the most frequent operative procedure. The 5-year survival rate was 100%, and the 10-year survival rate was 91.7%, as one patient died of a second primary lung cancer in the 6th postoperative year. In conclusion, the definition of early hilar lung cancer proposed by the JLCS is thought to be reasonable, and early hilar lung cancer is a curable disease, if it is properly diagnosed and treated.